Misk
by Psychobilly Beach
Summary: Welcome to planet Misk, where only the dead reside. This is a crossover of many things, but all are animal characters. Note that it is over-all a very kid-friendly series, but every now and then there are VERY explicit scenes.
1. Misk Gods, Prologue

Prologue

_Long ago and far away, there lived a galaxy much unlike the Milky Way you are so familiar with; in fact, this galaxy happened to be the smallest galaxy in the universe, consisting of only twelve solar systems. Within one of these solar systems resided a small planet where only the dead were allowed. This planet was called Misk because it contained miscellaneous creatures. However, before this planet was much populated, there lived only three beings._

_It is said that after the planet Misk was created, three orbs were left. After billions of years, these orbs evolved into three different animals. The green orb represented land animals, or the Tiger. The blue orb represented water animals, or the Whale. The red orb represented sky animals, or the Eagle. The Eagle, Tiger, and Whale were the only known significant beings on the planet for one million years before they died. However, they always seemed to find a mate and breed sometime before their death. This always left another orb, as opposed to an egg. After each creature's one million years were up, the orb from each left behind would slowly form into yet another Eagle, Tiger, and Whale._

_This cycle was repeated over and over and over. Each time, it would take a slightly less amount of years for the baby orbs to evolve into animals. Finally, after the death of the previous animals, the orbs would evolve into the new animals almost instantly, in minutes. However, the length of time that the three animals were alive was always the same: one million years. These three animals, Tiger, Eagle, and Whale, were said to be the three Gods of Misk because they could never die until their one million years were up; and even after their death, they would always leave a new orb behind, to evolve into copies of them after they die._

_It was rumored that the Gods were the exact same original three; that they simply rebirthed themselves every one million years. However, that was proven false, as the newly born God's mothers would not recognize their new son as their past mates. Also, though each God looked exactly like its father, and would always be male, they always had one personality trait slightly different than the last._

_Another intriguing fact about these Misk Gods was that the Whale always seemed to remain hidden within the oceanic depths, never rising to the surface. Also, the Tiger and Eagle seemed to have some sort of traditional grudge against each other, no matter what the reason might have been._

Our story begins not when the first Gods were created, but trillions of trillions of years later when there were other species living in Misk besides the three Misk Gods as well. Once again, Tiger the Land God and Eagle the Sky God were at it again… But suddenly, their section of Misk was about to undergo jeopardy…

Author's Note: There is an original version of this prologue found under the FF name "Myuu DaMew", so if you're interested in reading that, feel free to do a pen name search.


	2. Misk Gods, Part I: Deserting The Desert

"Misk Gods" Saga  
Part I: Deserting The Desert

To be honest, I was never quite sure why I hadn't left Iron Plateau just yet. I guess I was in hopes that all of the others would come back and that the fighting between Tiger and Freedom would cease. They had been fighting for years on end until finally, the beautiful plateau we land animals loved to reside in, turned into nothing but a hot, desolate piece of land with not one blade of grass in sight. It had the appearance of a desert without the sand. As the grass disappeared and the water stopped running, the plateau itself finally gained a name: "Iron Plateau". The sun would beat down on it continually, dehydrating the animals. A lot of them died, but many were able to escape Iron Plateau and find a new place where the Gods wouldn't fight so that they could live in peace.

I guess part of the reason I didn't leave was because Iron Plateau was my home, and I didn't need water or grass or even meat to live. I'm a Furbie, just your average Furbie, and I could survive by nibbling at the dying roots and dirt on the walls of my cave. Sure, I would get lonely most of the time, but I was fairly used to that. My parents and siblings had been killed a few years ago by Freedom, the Sky God. Well, not exactly by Freedom, but more or less his henchmen of fellow bald eagles. I could never tell if the eagles were pure evil, or just hungry, but I paid them no mind. So far, no one had ever found my cave, and that's all that mattered.

On this particular day, however, I was feeling extraordinarily full of energy and the sun wasn't beating down as hard as it usually did on Iron Plateau. I decided to exit my cave and catch some fresh air before the weather changed. Looking around, everything was extremely silent to the point where I thought I'd go insane of boredom. Then again, I thought that a lot of times. This time, though, I could have sworn I'd spotted tumbleweed.

After nearly an hour of sitting outside my cave and observing what little clouds hovered above me, my ears were picking something up. My whole body began to twitch; the sound was building up, getting louder and louder, though it was still very distance. I tried to find where the moving noise was coming from, but the sun was blocking my vision and I had no arms to shield my eyes like other animals had. I could tell the noise was coming from the left, and I could tell it had to be something very large and very powerful. Not a lot of animals that used to live at Iron Plateau were either of these things: just innocently small, humble animals such as myself. Surely this was something from another end of Misk, or maybe… Hopefully it couldn't be one of the Misk Gods, could it? I shivered at the thought and slowly began to back into my cave, assuming this was a predator of some sort.

I wasn't completely well hidden inside my cave because I still wanted to be able to get a good look at whatever had come my way; that's what you did when you were bored. Even if you were risking your life, you wanted to be able to see who else was around. It gets so lonely living by oneself.

The creature's shadow emerged, and I shivered inside my cave with both fear and excitement. It was most definitely a tiger, and the only known tiger in all of Misk was Tiger the Land God… I wasn't sure if he was evil, either, because he frequently would eat land creatures if he were hungry enough as well. Being a land creature myself, however, I was sure that if he decided to eat me, I could talk to him first and convince him not to. I guess you could say I was rather brave for a Furbie; my parents and siblings had all been cowards, and that's what led to their death. I knew I wasn't quite like them; I knew I was unique from them in some way.

Tiger (at least, that's who I assumed it was) crept his gigantic, striped legs across the entrance to my cave as if he were going to pass it smoothly without a second thought. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. He was extremely large, so his legs were all I could make out. I'm sure if he were to hop onto my cave, he'd crush it and I would die. I wasn't even that small for a Furbie; I was about a foot tall.

His head lowered and his green eyes glowed like rare crystals into my cave. Yes, this was most definitely Tiger. To my surprise, his mouth started to open, revealing huge teeth that looked like long, white-bladed knives. His tongue started to loll out of his mouth like a red carpet and his whiskers twitched like branches on a tree. He sort of shook his head as though he were having a cold chill of some sort. Was he trying to take refuge in my cave? He couldn't fit in if he tried!

"Excuse me," his voice was extremely powerful and loud, even though I knew he was speaking softly. I'd never been so close to Tiger in my entire life; the closest I'd ever been to him was when I was watching a fight between him and Freedom the Sky God, but that was many months ago. I remember being amazed at their sizes, but I wasn't even that close to them. I had been watching them from above, on a ledge near Freedom's Lair. Now that I was witnessing Tiger so up close, my entire body seemed to freeze, and my heart was stuttering in my rib cage.

"Excuse me," he repeated, no louder than he had before. "I know there is somebody in here, and you don't have to be afraid. I'm not going to eat you. I'm not even hungry… I'd just like to know where the nearest watering hole is, that's all. I've been thirsty for days now. I think if I don't have something to drink soon, my body will wither away."

I knew what Tiger was saying just wasn't true. Everybody knew that Misk Gods were immortal until their one million years were up. I wasn't sure how old the three Misk Gods were, definitely thousands of years old, but nowhere near their time just yet. I myself was only about ten years old, which is considered an early adult in Furbie years. It would have been like an old man speaking to a child, but Tiger looked like he hadn't aged a day since birth. Well, okay, he didn't have any baby features on him, that was for sure, but for a creature that had to fight the eagles day after day, he didn't look like he'd ever been in a fight before… That is, if it weren't for that one large scar across his side. Freedom had done that with one of his talons. I knew because that was the one fight I had witnessed fairly close up; the one from many months ago.

"Come on, little guy, I'm not going to hurt you, honest," Tiger continued to speak. "I just need to know where some water is. I'm thirsty! Surely if you're living out here you know where one is, right? Come on, I promise I'm not going to harm you in any way… Please!"  
Tiger was sounding unpredictably friendly. Part of me thought it was awfully suspicious, but the other part of me knew that Tiger was harmless, at least for now, and that answering back or even leaving the cave wouldn't cause him to suddenly get hungry. Would it? On the brighter side, he could never get to me from inside my cave; he was much, much too big. His head could just barely poke through the entrance and thanks to my months of boredom, this cave stretched pretty far in case I needed to run to the other end to avoid a swiping paw.

"I'm begging you, please answer me…" Tiger sounded tired and almost sad. It would be a crime not to answer him at this point.

"I deeply apologize, Sir," I responded in a shaky, yet fearless tone. "I only eat dirt inside here, no water for me! I'm sure if you migrate a bit further from here, you'll run across a lake or something sooner or later."

"Are you sure, or are you just making that up?" Tiger didn't sound tired anymore, but slightly angry. I tried not to pay attention to the way he was talking, but more on how to answer his question.

"When the land creatures migrated from here because of the fighting and the lack of life, almost all of them traveled north instead of south," I gave him the best answer I had on me. "A lost of this animals had very keen senses, and I think they knew what they were doing. If they are alive, if those thousands of animals are still alive, they surely have found a body of water somewhere."

"Yes, of course," Tiger sounded pleased and grateful. "Thank you, Sir. You may call me Tiger, by the way. Whom am I talking to?"

Now I was feeling a bit nervous. I hadn't expected Tiger to get into personal conversation; I assumed this was strictly business talk. I felt my feet shaking under my round, feathery body. "Er… My name is Boo Boh-Bay, Tiger. But you can just call me Boo. That's what my family called me before they were killed by Freedom."

I had stopped facing the entrance of my cave all together because I didn't want to see Tiger's face. I had turned around and was facing the darker, slightly damp area of my cave where the dying roots hung softly. I could sense Tiger bowing in understanding, though I could not see it. Now I was starting to feel sick. The nervousness of talking with one of the three Gods of my planet and the rancid taste from the roots I had eaten that morning were finally starting to get to me. Before Tiger could even respond to what I said, I found myself lurching forward, opening my beak up as wide as it would go, and vomiting some disgusting, brownish green ooze. I felt the warm, slightly chunky liquid seep down my once baby pink colored chest and onto the dirty ground. Even then, it wouldn't stop. I continued vomiting and vomiting until it felt like I was vomiting out my insides. More of the liquid ooze sprayed down from my beak to my feet until my eyes grew dreary and I suddenly felt tired. I fell backward onto my back, my feet frantically wiggling in the air.

"Uh oh," Tiger moaned. "Are you alright in there, Boo? That smells awful… Do you need help or anything?"

"Bluhhelp me out of here!" I cried more urgently than I needed to. The first word came out "bluhhelp" because as I started to say "help", the leftover vomit inside my beak left me in a large bubble of ooze that sprayed into my face as I spoke. My face felt warm and moist with chunky brown liquid.

Before I had time to do or say anything else, I felt a huge paw the size of my entire body cover me up and drag me out of my cave. I could feel my feathers being slightly damaged by being dragged across the hard dirt floor. Tiger's paw didn't smell too great, but it was a lot better than the smell of my own vomit, which sort of smelled like a garbage dump mixed with poop and perhaps dust.

As soon as the sun hit my eyelids, which were closed over my eyes, Tiger spoke. "Looks like you'll need a trip to the nearest watering hole too, huh? How above you come with me and we can clean up and get some water in our systems? I don't think dirt agrees with your body too well."

It was almost like some sort of disgustingly ironic honor for Tiger to be speaking with me like this, but I was too concerned with the thick sheet of vomit that had overtaken my feathery body to be excited with honor. I simply stood up, opened my eyes (my eyelids fighting the vomit caking over them, of course) and started to walk closer to Tiger's legs.

"I haven't thrown up since I was little," I spoke very shakily. It was like having thrown up everything inside your body, so your insides were left cold and dry. "I feel absolutely grime-ridden."

Tiger laughed. I had no idea Tiger could have a sense of humor, really. I know that sounds like a very cold thing to say, but I'd only really seen Tiger while he was fighting or killing. I assumed that's all he really cared about. And maybe, before he met me, it was.

"You look grime-ridden, there's no doubt about that," he replied, still laughing as he spoke. "You made me forget I was even thirsty… But now the thirst is back. I hope it isn't too far of a walk to get there."

As he started walking, I realized that if he seriously expected me to go with him, I'd have to be jogging the entire way there. He may not have been going very fast for his size, but his strides were huge! I had no legs, only feet, being a Furbie and all, and that meant I hardly had strides at all. I walked like some sort of electronic toy that could only move one millimeter in length at a time, and not very quickly. Thankfully, I didn't even need to mention this; Tiger noticed right away.

"You can sit on the back of my neck, okay?" he suggested. I didn't need to respond, I'm sure he knew I agreed. Without warning, though, he reached his head down, grabbed my back lightly with his teeth, and lifted me up. It felt like I was soaring on an outdoor elevator with no platform. I wasn't all that afraid of heights, but when you're covered in vomit and shooting into the air very quickly, you're not exactly in an excited state of mind. He placed me directly on the back of his neck, and I scooted up a little bit, surprised at the immense amount of space I had available to me. Tiger was a lot better than he looked!

"Thanks, Tiger," I smiled for the first time that day. "I hope it's not that far out, either. It would be a pain having to get all the way there and then back here… I'm really not into traveling much. That's one of the reasons I stayed when the others left, I guess. I hate walking."

"I know how you feel," he started to walk and it felt sort of scary, but I trusted a Misk God enough not to worry about sliding off one's back. "I'm so envious of Freedom… And any other eagles, I guess. They can fly wherever they want and get a nice view of everything that's below them. I wish I had wings. Maybe then I wouldn't have to ask so many other land creatures where things are."

"But if you had wings, you wouldn't have met me," I pointed out. "And I would have been left alone in that cave covered in my own vomit for a long time."

"True," Tiger replied. "Fate has a strange way of working things out, don't you agree?"

"Indeed," I smiled. All this time I had thought Tiger was some sort of mean-spirited creature, but he was just as affable as the next one. I turned around where I was sitting and realized I couldn't even see my cave anymore, even though Iron Plateau was as flat as, well… an iron!

As if Tiger could read my mind, he said, "You do know why they call this place Iron Plateau, don't you, Boo? It's not because it's hot and flat like one… Well, I guess that's part of the reason they call it that, of course. A lot of land creatures don't know this because they can't get a good enough view of the entire thing, but it's really in the shape of an giant iron. I'm not kidding."

"Whoa!" I spoke in complete surprise. "I had no idea! That's amazing. How do you know that? Did Freedom or some other eagles tell you? They would know, wouldn't they?"

"Yes, they would," Tiger started to speed up a little more. "But I didn't hear it from them, exactly… I was fighting with Freedom not too long ago, and at one point I was airborne… I mean, really airborne! You have no idea how weird and thrilling it is to be hundreds, maybe even thousands of feet up into the air. Freedom sort of picked me up and just flew with me, straight up into the air like some sort of feather-covered bullet and I was this little attachment. I looked down, of course; land creatures always look down, such a strange habit… And that's when I saw the plateau… I mean, the entire plateau, and it was in the exact shape of an iron."

"Wow…" I loved the way Tiger spoke. He was very easy to talk to, very down to earth. "I'd like to see that sometime. So are you telling me that there's no life at all on this entire plateau? All of it's just dead earth?"

"Exactly," Tiger responded, picking up the pace some more. "But I have a feeling there's life not far from it. The tip of the iron shape is in the direction that we're going. I think it's sort of a cliff that drops off onto another section of land. I'm hope that that particular section of land contains grass."

"Huh?" I was immediately confused when he said "grass". "But you're a meat-eater! Why would you want to find grass?"

"Don't be silly, Boo," Tiger had that laughing tone in him once again. "Grass means water. You know that, don't you? Grass cannot grow without water. That's why Iron Plateau. Misk God fighting attracts the sun's rays, causing the drought, causing everything around that was supported by water to wither away and die."

"Oh, right," I realized. My vomit was started to slip into Tiger's fur, but I didn't say anything about it. I was starting to feel nervous as Tiger seemed to be speeding up a little bit, more and more. "Why are we moving so hastily? You know the faster you walk, the quicker you'll dehydrate."

"I'm afraid Freedom will spot me soon, and this would be the worst time to start another battle," Tiger spoke in a worn out voice that made me feel really sorry for him. I for one, would hate to have to live each day knowing that there was somebody out to get you.

"Doesn't Freedom have a life of his own?" I asked. "He can't want to fight all the time…"

"You'd be surprised," Tiger replied, speeding up even more, almost to a trot. "He usually just lives up in his lair, but when he's not in there doing whatever, he's out here looking for a fight… Oh, no! No! Speaking of the devil! Do you hear that, Boo?"


	3. Misk Gods, Part II: Blood Drop On The Ir...

"Misk Gods" Saga  
Part II: Blood Drop On The Iron

It came with powerful force. Before I had time to respond to a thing Tiger was freaking out about, and before I could get into the state of mind to realize that we were in danger, Tiger's back leaped up and caused me to go flying way out in front of him. I was able to twirl and land on my feet just in time to land undamaged. See Tiger's worried expression now worried me a great deal more. I look around frantically and noticed there was an oddly-shaped rock just behind me. I crept behind it to watch Tiger safely from a camouflaged distance. I could already feel my vomit starting to dry up and become crusty. My eyes were watering from the direct sunlight getting to my big, blue eyes. I wanted to die; I was most uncomfortable.

Tiger was jumping around and frantically searching behind him. As he looked up, so did I, and there it was. Freedom, the giant bald eagle Sky God was coming at Tiger like a feathery bullet. It looked more like a huge blur to me, but who else could it have been besides Freedom? I hadn't seen him so up close before, and I could feel a chill going all the way throughout my bones, even though It was extremely hot out. The mere sight of Freedom was like witnessing Satan. I began to shake all over and sweat, and you can only imagine how disgusting it felt to be covered in slowly crusting vomit and sweat, especially when you have feathers you were used to preening every day.

Freedom seemed to attack Tiger with full force because Tiger fell back as Freedom's talons hit him in the chest. It was almost comical, seeing Tiger go flying across the dirt ground on his bottom like that, but I knew this was anything but a laughing matter. My only way of getting either to water or back to my cave was in danger, and there was obviously nothing someone as small as myself could do about that. I found myself trying to take a bite out of the dirt-covered rock before me, starting to feel sick again, but this time because of what was happening in front of me.

Freedom wasted no time after he shoved Tiger back. He simply flew in front of him in a single powerful swoop and started hacking at Tiger's face with his long talons. I swear I saw blood and fur go flying as Freedom slid his talons across Tiger's left cheek, but before he could do much damage, Tiger swept his gigantic paw in front of him and pinned Freedom to the ground, his paw neatly crushing Freedom's right wing. Before Freedom could react, Tiger used his other paw to crush Freedom's left wing. Freedom was definitely not going anywhere soon. I almost felt like cheering Tiger on, but what good would that do?

"Don't even think you have me now," Freedom spoke in an equally powerful voice, but like me, his voice was far from perfect due to the beak. I suppose even when you have thousands of years to practice speaking better, you just can't fight the powers of your own beak. "I have plenty of others behind me and they'll be here any minute, Tiger. They'll all rip you up until you're nothing but a gorgeous furry rug inside the front room of lair."

"Is that why you want to kill me so much?" Tiger didn't seem too angry; he almost seemed amused, and that really scared me. "So you can do some home decorating? I had a feeling you were a material sort of guy, Freedom. You'd better pay attention to the more important things in life… Unless you want to pay the price, that is."

"Oh, spare me," Freedom seemed to hack in frustration, his wings straining to be free from Tiger's paws. "You're a piece of shit, Tiger. You always were and you always will be. Don't think for just one moment that you're better than me. You're not. Quit acting like a fucking hero already and accept it."

"Funny, I don't recall saying I was a hero…" Tiger grinned. I was completely scared at this point. Why was Tiger acting so casual about all of this? Was it because he'd fought Freedom so many times that it didn't seem to be a big deal anymore? I knew if I ever ended up in a fight with anyone, I'd never have a casual attitude toward it. I'd probably either be scared or fearless, depending on who it was I was fighting.

I saw Tiger's claws extend outside of his paws. They glittered in the sunlight like jewels, similar to the way his eyes had been glowing inside my cave only about half an hour before. Before I could even think about what was about to happen, it happened. Tiger actually shot his claws into Freedom's wings. Did they go through his wings? Probably. They didn't seem to have a problem at all with spearing Freedom. They slid in like a butcher knife sinks into an angel cake, so delicately and easily. But there was nothing delicate or easy about what was happening, that was for sure.

"Tell me, does that hurt?" Tiger asked Freedom. Freedom seemed unable to respond. It was if he was trying to scream in agony, but the pain was simply too much for him to handle, so he was screaming in silence. His beak was wide open and so were his eyes, his golden brown eyes. "You seem a bit choked up, Freedom… Let me help you with that." The grin on Tiger's face was chilling, haunting.

Like a vampire, Tiger lowered his head and clenched Freedom's feathery white neck with his equally whiter teeth. Just as his claws and slid into his wings, his teeth slid through his neck. Blood squirted out from almost every direction, spraying Tiger's face, chest, and front legs. At first, Freedom's talons had been frantically jittering in an attempt to maybe scar Tiger's belly, but now they stopped and became very, very pale. Whiter than Freedom's own head and neck, in fact. They sank limply onto the dried earth and Freedom's eyes began to close.

I was nearly positive he was dead, and I was about to jump out from behind the rock and scold Tiger for making my eyes witness such horror, while thanking him and congratulating him at the same time. But that's when more trouble seemed to face us; a huge flock, no, a wave of smaller eagles began to fill the clear, sunlit sky. My heart sank and I shrunk back behind the rock immediately. I hadn't felt so afraid in my life. Who would have thought that making friends with somebody would cause so much destruction in such little time?

Before long, the air stampede of eagles shot down like lots of little spears aimed straight for Tiger. The most difficult thing I had ever experienced in my entire life was watching a potential best friend being speared by many eagles and not being able to do a thing about it. I had a sudden urge to just rush out from behind the rock and call out to get their attention, but I knew that even if I did that, it wouldn't change the damage they would be doing to Tiger. They wanted to kill him. Sure, they'd probably want to kill me as well if they saw me, but only because they'd be hungry or bored or something. I knew deep down that Freedom couldn't have wanted to kill Tiger for the soul purpose of having a new rug in his lair, but I was afraid to find out the real reason he wanted him dead. Then again, maybe I did know. Wasn't it true that if the Land God were to die because of the Sky God, the Sky God would be in control of both land and sky creatures? Was Freedom looking for absolute power? The thought was haunting me, but no more than the other eagles pinning Tiger was haunting me.

I watched as Tiger screamed in agony. He would buck his hind legs up into the air and try to hit the eagles, but he was rarely succeeding. They were scarring up his body with their beaks and talons. After they all had a shot at spearing him, they simply hovered around him and tried to scar up every part of his body as possible. If Freedom honestly wanted Tiger as a rug, it would be a pretty well damaged one.

I was petrified in horror as Tiger tried to move, and as he lifted one of his front paws, it escaped out of Freedom's wing and caused loads of warm, thick blood to go squirting back into Tiger's face as well as in the faces of the eagles swarming around him like wasps. Tiger didn't seem to care, I'm sure he only wanted to get out of the mess he was in. He seemed to be struggling with his other paw, but using his free one, he yanked it out of Freedom's other wing. More blood shot out in different places until Tiger's entire front half was literally dripping in dark blood and more than half of the eagles were drenched, too. It was absolutely disgusting. I felt extremely weary and tired. I knew what would be happening soon, but my eyes were locked on the scene.

Freedom still couldn't move, even after he was free from Tiger's talons. He was dead, wasn't he? What if the other eagles killed Tiger? Then we wouldn't have Land or Sky God at all… And that would mean that the Water God would be in charge of the entire world of Misk until his one million years were up, right? But I had never seen the Water God before… Maybe Freedom had already killed him as well? I had no idea, and I didn't like to think about it, but I couldn't help myself.

Suddenly, Tiger turned around to face the other little eagles, and he started swiping and snapping at them vigorously. This wasn't the part that shocked me; the part that shocked me was the fact that blood was still shooting out of Freedom's wings and neck like a fountain, getting the back of Tiger's body and making him look more like a red panther than anything else. His stripes simply weren't visible any longer. His tail looked like it had been dipped in liquid roses. At this point, I was extremely disgusted. How long could I keep up for? Another minute, a few seconds?

Tiger started to rip eagles right out of the air and munched on them. That's where the sick feeling finally got to me. As his teeth went down on the eagle's bodies, they too turned into little miniature fountains and blood was spraying absolutely everywhere. Gross, gross, gross! I took big gasps full of air. This wasn't happening, this wasn't happening! Tiger never seemed to stop, the blood was practically invisible to him. There must have been hundreds of eagles surrounding him, trying to claw at his body, but it didn't make any difference….

The vomit sprayed out from my beak just as the blood from Freedom's body had. Brownish green liquid ooze hit the rock in front of me and sprayed back into my face. Just knowing this made me vomit even more, more and more, my insides feeling hollow. Most of it immediately oozed down the rest of my body, covering up the vomit that had begun to crust, giving me that warm sensation again. This time it sank into my sides as well, and I could even feel vomit on my back. I could only vomit more. The more places I felt the vomit, the more the feeling in my stomach couldn't handle it.

My eyes were barely open at this point, and I had finally stopped vomiting. I was almost afraid that the eagles had heard me, but not one had turned its attention to me. I watched as Tiger picked some more out from the air and munched them up quicker than a machine, the number of eagles dead on the ground was much, much greater than the amount still hovering in the air and trying to attack the blood-covered God… I took one last spray of vomit, one last warm, liquid wave trickling quickly down my chest, and that's when I fell backward once more, this time blacking out.

"Boo, I said come on!" I opened my eyes to find a panther's face directly in front of mine. No, this wasn't a panther at all, it was Tiger! He was so covered in dark blood he really did look like a panther. Even his long whiskers were covered in it, and drooping down like weak flower stems.

"I'm… up…." I managed to gasp as I woke. "What happened? How long as it been?"

"Since you blacked out?" Tiger tilted his head. "I don't know when you fainted, I was a little occupied… As you can tell. Man, that was crazy. Thousands of years… Yeah, I've been alive for thousands of years, and I can't even remember the last time he sent a swarm of them after me. I have to admit, it was actually a little exciting. I'm not as dehydrated anymore. The blood served well. It was warm, though, and I still need something refreshing…"

I vomited again after hearing this, and since I was still lying on my back, it sprayed all over my face. Tiger winced, picked me up with his teeth despite the vomit, and placed me on the back of his wet, slippery neck. I slid a little bit on the blood, but I had a fairly tight grip. No, I vomited a second time on the back of his neck, the brown liquid streaming across his back.

"Sorry," he apologized sympathetically. "I didn't realize you had such a weak stomach. You shouldn't have been watching me! Anyway, I think it's about time we head off already… I'm thirsty and we're both in need of baths, now. Maybe a few, actually. Let's just-"

Tiger didn't finish. He stumbled back behind the rock, but of course he wasn't very well hidden. He was much too big. I peered at whatever had stopped him from finishing that sentence. I froze as well. Three really strange creatures were sitting next to Freedom's white corpse. Closer observation told me that these three creatures were also eagles, but it was difficult to tell because they had the same body shape as me. Very short and midget-like, but very fluffy and chubby-looking as well. One of them wasn't even brown! Instead, it was red and blue. The third one was very tiny… It must have only been a child; perhaps the child of the two other eagles?

"Those three are always following Freedom around," Tiger whispered so only I could hear; something I didn't think was very possible. "The only reason that Freedom lets them hang around him is because that red and blue one is a female… The only known female eagle in existence. That's her mate and child next to her. They're not even really henchmen of Freedom, they're more or less fans. Followers."

I nodded to show that I understood. That's when I noticed there was a vile tied around the female eagle's mate… It was a bright red liquid. It couldn't have been blood in there because it was glowing. Using his beak, he opened up the vile and then hopped forward (he couldn't step forward because of his body type, I understood) and tilted a few drops of the glowing stuff into Freedom's neck. It was the strangest thing I'd ever seen, but I understand almost immediately. Whatever that liquid was, it caused Freedom to return to full health. And I was correct. His wounds shrunk to nothing, his color returned, and his eyes opened. He was still covered in his own blood, however. He looked angry. I could have sworn his eyes were glowing red, more red than the vile of liquid.

"If you think I'm going to thank you're wrong," Freedom spat at the chubby little eagle. "Where the fuck did Tiger go? I wasn't finished with him…"

I nearly fainted again. Freedom's eyes locked into Tiger's. It was as if I was completely nonexistent. Freedom didn't seem to see me, more make a comment about me being on Tiger's back. He just glared at Tiger, and Tiger glared right back. The three pudgy eagles looked eat each other, nodded, and took off into awkward flight, their tiny wings barely able to hold themselves into the air.

I felt like crying. Was this my death day? I felt Tiger's growl, but it only seemed to make Freedom glare into his eyes even more. I started to slip off of Tiger, but he kept a fine balance to make sure I didn't fall. The blood and vomit beneath my feet seemed to be moving on its own. I thought some of the blood on Tiger would have started to try by now, but it hadn't.

Before Tiger could make a move, Freedom did. He launched forward like some sort of action figure and raked his talons into Tiger's neck just seconds after I slipped further back, now more or less gripping onto Tiger's lower back. I was frightened. Freedom's tail feathers were so close they were practically poking my face. I wanted to just slide off and let business be business, but there was no time. At that precise moment, Freedom flapped his wings and rose high into the air with talons piercing Tiger's back and myself still clutching on as tight as possible.

I shut my eyes tight as we rose quickly into the air, higher than I'd ever gone before, and I began to slip. Sweat drenched my feathers, even over the blood and the vomit, which hadn't dried at all. I was slipping down Tiger's tail and Tiger couldn't seem to help me balance anymore. He was probably concentrating on how to move next without putting me in danger, if that was even possible.

"I'll fucking kill you, Tiger!" Freedom called out as he kept hovering us higher and higher into the air, some blood and vomit flying off Tiger's body because of the speed were flying up at. "I swear on my Sky God ancestors, I'll fucking murder you and take control of Misk forever! You'd better be listening to me, you son of a bitch! Forever! I know I won't die when my one million years are up, because I am too great! I'm greater than any Sky God before me! There has never been a greater God than myself! I am superior to all! Especially you, Tiger, especially you!"

But Tiger did not respond, and of course, neither did I. As I slipped down to the tip of Tiger's tail, that's when I looked down. Yes, Tiger was correct, land animals always looked down when they were in the air, it really was a habit. But that wasn't the only thing Tiger was right about; Iron Plateau really was shaped like an iron! And now there was a drop of blood on this iron, toward the tip. It must have been the size of pool up close, but now it only looked like a drop.

"I'll deal with you later when you're more challenging, you weak piece of shit," Freedom spat. And with that, he dropped Tiger. He dropped us and flew off immediately. We were heading straight for the tip of the iron. Tiger didn't scream at all, but I did. I screamed like a whiny little baby. I cried, even. I knew I was going to die. My beak was clenching onto the tip of Tiger's tail, and I knew we were as good as dead… That I was as good as dead, anyway.


	4. Misk Gods, Part III: A Better Life Await...

"Misk Gods" Saga

Part III: A Better Life Awaits

I woke up to what felt like a furry, damp pillow hitting me lightly on the side of my face. Before I could open my eyes, I knew it was Tiger and I instantly felt like crap. I knew I was covered in vomit and blood that still hadn't dried yet. Every bone in my body was aching, and I was sure Tiger felt the same way. I was surprised I wasn't dead after such a fall, but I must have landed on Tiger's belly or something because though everything hurt, nothing seemed broken. Then again, I hadn't tried moving yet. I opened my eyes painfully and sat up. Sure enough, there was Tiger looking like a completely black panther, and a depressed one at that.

"Sorry if I disturbed any pleasant dreams," Tiger smiled.

I only looked at him in disgust. "How can you even kid about what just happened? He dropped us! We should be dead! And we're covered in blood and barf!"

"Calm down," Tiger laughed, making me even angrier. "I can't die until my one million years are up, remember? Didn't your parents teach you anything about Misk before they died?"

I could have argued, but there was no use. Tiger was the Land God, and though he seemed pretty weird to me, fighting with him wouldn't do me any good. I was far away from my home, after all, and there was practically no way back. I couldn't climb up the plateau, especially since I had no arms.

"I have good news, anyway," Tiger nudged. "I see grass up ahead. Real, green grass. We're home free, buddy. I'll take you home after we wash off, alright? I promise. I can jump back up that plateau just as easy as you can step over a rock!"

I felt immediate relief. "Oh, thank fate! I could kiss the ground!"

Tiger only laughed, picked me blood and vomit-covered body up off the ground, and set me on his equally grotesque back. Before I could even catch a fine grip, he was off like a cheetah. Already I could see that green grass ahead. I hoped we weren't looking at a mirage; that would have been awful. But no, clear as day, there it was. In fact, it was probably the tallest grass I'd ever seen before. The grass that used to grow on Iron Plateau was only a couple inches long, and the grass ahead looked like it could even hide Tiger!

I clung as tightly as I could to Tiger's back, slipping only slightly as he sprinted, until finally he began going a bit slower. I was suddenly feeling very tired (but not sickly or faintish this time), so I closed my eyes and tilted forward. "Are we in the grass yet, Tiger?"

"Yeah, yeah," he responded, sounding very occupied. "I'm trying to find a pond or a stream or something… I can sort of hear running water coming from somewhere, but no water in sight…"

Normally I probably would have stood up on Tiger's head and helped him look, but I was suddenly much too tired. I felt like falling into a dreamless sleep, which is a very awkward feeling if you've ever been drenched in blood and vomit while sitting on something equally coated in blood and vomit. I was so tired I didn't seem to care, though.

"Hey, you!" a tiny voice peeped angrily. That woke me up. I sat up and looked down to the ground where Tiger was also looking. There was another very strange creature I'd never seen before, but this thing didn't look anything like that small family of pudgy eagles that were helping Freedom out. No, this critter was most definitely a rabbit. But not just any rabbit, a black and white striped rabbit! It looked almost like a cross between and rabbit and a zebra. Just looking at it made me smile. There are some things on this earth that were just mean to make us smile, but this bunny didn't seem happy the least bit.

"You're ruining our grass! Go wash off before the others get back, or you'll be sorry! I mean it! I hate it when outsiders like you come from nowhere just so you can freaking… Freaking ruin things for everybody! Were you even invited here by anyone? I don't think so!"

My adrenaline had just about had enough. "Do you even know who you're talking to, little miss?" I shouted back.

"Oh, leave her be, Boo," Tiger spoke with wisdom and power in his voice. "If she wants us to clean up, we'll clean up… May I ask where the nearest watering hole is? We've come strictly in search of one, that's all."

"Oh no you don't!" the rabbit shrieked some more. "There's no way I'm going to let you filthy pieces of crap wash off in our sacred watering hole, that's for drinking only! If you want to wash off, you're going to have to do it under Tragar Waterfall."

"Tragar Waterfall?" I repeated.

"Yeah, yeah, that's the name of the waterfall… It's really close; I'll show you guys. Come on!"

And boy, could that little bunny hop. I was getting really tired of gripping onto the back of Tiger's neck, but I didn't have much of a choice. Besides, I was suddenly awake with excitement. I hadn't seen grass in about a year and I wondered if I'd still be living off of dirt and roots for the rest of my life. I could almost hear a song coming from that running waterfall as we approached it. Finally, the grass stopped and before us was a beautiful waterfall. It wasn't very big, but the water within it looked absolutely amazing, like crystals.

"Just wash off here and then I'll let you drink out of our watering hole," the bunny said rather superior-like. "I'm the only one here right now, but the others - My friends and family, I mean - they'll be here in about an hour and I'm not sure if they'll let you hang around here for much longer."

Tiger seemed to be ignoring what she said. "You first, Boo, go on."

I slid down his blood drenched tail, which still, by the way, hadn't dried off, and stumbled my lazy way to the water, feeling my damp bloody prints being left behind as I made my way. Tiger sort of nudged me and I whipped around to glare at him. I didn't like being rushed, ever.

I found myself unable to step in, however. I hadn't touched water since I was very little, and I guess you could say the thought of diving in made me nervous. Besides, I knew it would be cold. Tiger, once again, seemed to read my mind. Before I had time to say I wasn't read, Tiger picked me up by his tail and threw me in! I could hear the zebra bunny laughing at me, and I could almost feel Tiger's smile even though I could only see water.

Water covered my entire body, was under my feathers, was drowning me. I felt cold right down to the bone, but at the same time I could already feel my body attempting to adjust to the temperature. I opened my eyes as I sunk lower into the water. All around me there was darkness within the clear water: blood mixed with vomit. If I hadn't been under water, I definitely would have thrown up again. I turned to find that the crusted on vomit wasn't washing off as fast, so I did a quick little twirl in a circle to get it to shake off.

Before long, I realized I was having fun. I think I waited about five minutes or so before I finally broke through the surface. "That was awesome!"

Tiger seemed to be laughing to the end of time, but the zebra rabbit only looked shocked. "You mean to tell me that was all blood? But you have no wounds!"

"It wasn't my blood," I smiled. "And there was some throw-up in there, too."

"That's disgusting!" she cried out, and I realized for the first time that she had a slight Spanish accent. It sort of worked for her. Before I had time to move out of the way, Tiger did some sort of giant cannon ball into the water, causing me to go flying out and landing right next to the zebra bunny.

"Whoa!" I looked around dizzily. "Don't do that again, Tiger!"

The zebra bunny looked at me and snickered. "You have a pink chest and mane. That's funny. Pink is a girl's color!"

I glared jokingly. "At least I don't look like my dad was a zebra, thank you very much."

Thankfully, the bunny didn't seem to mind; she only laughed along with me. "My name's Bullet, by the way. What's yours? Boo, did he call you?"

"Yup, that's me," I laughed. "I only just met him about an hour ago or so. It's not like we're good friends or anything."

"Why did his parents name him Tiger?" Bullet laughed. "He's a panther, isn't he? That's such a funny name. His parents must have been envious of the Land God, am I right? Even though the Land God eats just as many land animals as the Sky God eats sky animals, they still have enough dignity to call their son that?"

She looked surprised to find that I wasn't joking along with her. "Actually-"

Right at that moment, Tiger came out from under the water, completely free of blood and smiling happily and Bullet and me. Bullet's ears drooped and her eyes became huge and prey-like. She looked absolutely petrified on the spot, and I found she was shaking and completely unable to move.

"You're Tiger!" she shrieked. "D-don't hurt me!"

I patted her lightly with my foot before she could freak out anymore. "Don't worry, don't worry! Calm down, Bullet, he's a nice guy! You would eat other land creatures if you didn't eat plants and you were hungry, wouldn't you? He's only mean to the eagles… Please don't be afraid. I was at first, but Tiger's a nice guy."

"I'm not going to hurt you," Tiger looked much more serious now. "I've only come this way for water. I'm thirsty, that's all. I promise that right after I drink from your watering hole, I'll leave."

Bullet was apparently easy to convince. A smile spread across her face. "The Land God within my presence, what was I think? This is an honor! I'll show you both to the watering hole right away, it's hardly a ways at all. Just a few yards, actually. Come on, come on!"

As Tiger and I followed, Tiger moving much slower on purpose to stay at the same pace, I realized how cold I was. That water had been cold enough, but now that we were walking and there was a cool breeze, it felt like I was going to shiver my feathers right off! Tiger was laughing at me because of the droopy, unbalanced way my feathers were since I hadn't preened them yet.

"Here we are," Bullet spoke happily. As the grass ended, we looked through it to see a very huge watering hole, the size of a giant pond or a small lake. Tiger was eyeing it hungrily. I hadn't had water in a long, long time, but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway. As Tiger thanked Bullet and leaned forward, he drank mouthful after mouthful, each gulp looking like it was probably a couple gallons for him. I thanked Bullet as well, since that's the tradition you're supposed to use when one shows you to water, and took tiny sips. Bullet didn't do the same; I guess she wasn't thirsty.

I filled up quickly, but Bullet and I must have sat there laughing for another ten or fifteen minutes before Tiger was finally finished. When he was, the watering hole was much, much lower than it had been starting out. About half of it was gone!

"Oh great, now I'll have to explain this one to my parents," Bullet sighed. "Oh well, no matter. There will be much more water by tomorrow morning. You sure can drink, Tiger!"

Tiger only shook his entire body of the water from Tragar Waterfall in reply, soaking Bullet and me up again. "Hey!" we laughed jokingly.

"I'll take you two to the hot springs now, you must be freezing!" Bullet laughed. "It's pretty close, but you have to climb up steps, so Boo you should get on Tiger, I guess… Unless you can actually jump really high steps like I can."

"And I can't," I laughed while Tiger swept me up and placed me on the back of his neck. I shivered once more, my feathers feeling completely out of place and most definitely uncomfortable.

Bullet led the way as quickly as she could through the grass, and then hopped up some strange crumbly-looking steps. They were definitely too big for me to ever climb, even if I grew arms, but her hind legs were clearly powerful and Tiger gracefully stepped up them, skipping many at a time. They seemed to spiral until we reached this strange crater-looking thing. Bullet immediately hopped into it and I heard a sizzling souond, like a boiling pot of water.

I run up to Tiger's head as he leaned over it. It was even larger than the watering hole, and it sort of scared me, but I decided to take a risk anyway. It was definitely going to be warm as I could already feel the heat it was giving off, no doubt about that, and I was freezing like an icicle. I slid in carelessly to find that I should have stepped in gradually, if there had been a way.

"Yow!" I shrieked. "Ouch, ouch, ouch! Help! I'm boiling! I'm cooking! Help!"

Bullet laughed. "You really should calm down and relax there, Boo! Come in, Tiger, it's fine… Then again, I'm used to it."

Tiger stepped in eagerly, and as soon as he did, I attempted to climb on him to get out of the heated water, but Tiger shook me off. "Get used to it, Boo, it feels nice!"

After a few more minutes of freaking out, I finally decided I was ready to calm down and relax. Bullet swam around in circles and Tiger looked like he was about ready to fall asleep. Bullet looked so silly when she started swimming in a big circle around Tiger.

"So where are you two off to after this?" Bullet broke the silence.

"I'm taking Boo back to his cave and then… I don't know. I'm ready to finally settle down and have a mate, you know? I've been looking for one for the past couple months, but I just can't find any female tigers around here. I just want to get some real relaxation in and try to avoid Freedom for once. I don't like to fight, to be honest, but I don't have much of a choice. It's my way of defense."

Bullet was nodding understandingly, but I could tell she was dying to say something to Tiger. She looked like there was something on her mind she could just barely contain any longer. "Well, Tiger, today must certainly be your lucky day. I know what you mean about the whole fighting thing, you know… I have a brother. He's always shoving me off, you know? Always! And I don't want to argue with him, but when he starts… Oooh, how I hate him! Anyway, anyway, anyway… I must tell you… Oooh I'm so excited to tell you!"

Tiger looked confused, but I already knew what Bullet was about to say. It was instinct. "Just tell me, then! Don't leave me in suspense…" Did Tiger already know what she was about to say, too?

"There is a female tiger who lives in an alcove on the side of Iron Plateau. Her balcony is that hole on the side of it. You can see it from here, see? Anyway, I'm guessing her little lair must take up a lot of Iron Plateau… Underneath the surface, I mean. She never makes a peep or anything, and as far as I know, she hasn't found her mate yet either. Maybe you could introduce yourself?"

Tiger was blushing. Bullet and I laughed; it was a really funny sight to see, after all. I'd never seen a tiger blush before. "Do you think she'd be busy right now? I may as well introduce myself while I'm still in the neighborhood…" His blushing only increased, and Bullet and I were just about dying with laughter.

"I doubt she'd be busy, I haven't seen her come out of that alcove all day," Bullet managed to reply. "Go on now, if you wish. We'll be waiting for your return."

Tiger didn't bother saying anything else for fear of embarrassment. He simply blushed an even darker shade of red and stepped out of the hot spring, making his way to the side of the plateau quickly, though I knew it would still take him a while. It looked close from where we were, but it was pretty far out there.

After we finally got control of our laughing, Bullet spoke. "Boo, I think I should talk to you about Tiger and Freedom."

"What about them? The fighting?" I asked, a little interested.

"Indeed," she nodded solemnly. "I know it's not Tiger's fault, but the fighting is causing all the life on this planet to slowly die, you know? And pretty soon if the fighting keeps up, this little area here is going to be gone and we'll all have to migrate until we find more water, and the others have searched and searched and they just can't find anymore water around here!"

"Do you think Tiger finding a mate will help this at all?" I asked her.

"I really hope so, Boo," she sighed, looking extremely worried. "If it doesn't, who knows what will happen to us. Fate has a strange way of working things out, and a lot of times it's not for the better. I'm afraid. I really am."

We stayed in silence for a very, very long time, neither of us knowing what to say or do. I though Bullet may have fallen asleep after a while, but I wasn't sure. Maybe she was just in a very relaxing mood like I was. All seemed very silent besides the occasional breeze that swept through the grass… And that's when we heard the roar.


End file.
